


Key Card To Your Heart

by natisrapunzel



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: AsaNoya - Freeform, College, College AU, M/M, as will kurotsukki, but eventually, daichi is shy, daisuga - Freeform, drunk daichi eventually, eventual asanoya as a main couple i PROMISE as a huge asanoya stan, kind of slow burn, kurotsuki - Freeform, ra au, they will have their own plotline
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-22
Updated: 2018-03-22
Packaged: 2019-04-06 16:32:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14060946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/natisrapunzel/pseuds/natisrapunzel
Summary: Daichi and Suga are RAs of dorms across the quad from each other, whose rowdier residents (Nishinoya, Tanaka, Kuroo, and Bokuto), start a dorm war against each other. Love and chaos ensues.





	Key Card To Your Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I am very excited about this work and I hope you enjoy, it'll probably be longer but hopefully worth the wait! I absolutely promise that Asanoya and Kurotsuki will have a main part in this story, but eventually since it is mainly a Daisuga fic. Enjoy :)

Daichi had just settled in for his typical Friday night—documentary on the TV, an open tub of Half Baked on his coffee table, and his dorm room door propped open so his residents could stop by and chat before they went out on the town, or, more likely, would allow him to hear more clearly the shenanigans his residents would try to pull tonight in their rooms. He shouldn’t have been surprised when he heard the first shouts down the hall—after all, the life of an RA was used to disruption, but he couldn’t help but groan as he heaved himself up off of his very comfy couch. Did they have to start being rowdy at—Daichi looked at his Fitbit in a fluid motion—eight thirty at night? Groaning, he stood up, only to wince as his fuzzy blanket he had been cocooned in pooled at his feet, the warmth of the material much missed in his too-cold room. He stepped out of it, sliding his feet into his worn-down vans by the door, before slipping his phone and his key card into his pocket and heading out the door.

Even if his ears hadn’t already been hyper-aware to the source of a ruckus from his first semester of being an RA, he knew where the noise was coming from the past semester of experience. It was the start of the semester, so the students weren’t overwhelmed with work yet, and would all likely be enjoying their freedom tonight. Nonetheless, only one dorm would be getting this wild at eight in the evening, Daichi thought, huffing to himself as he rounded the corner, the infamous room 103 coming into view, neon lights flickering from blue to green to red seeping from underneath the door.   
Daichi rolled his eyes, almost unwilling to end their night so soon. But he could physically feel the music blasting from the dorm shaking the wall he was leaning on. Already, empty solo cups were lining the steps to and from the boys’ room, and that was likely not even close to the chaos that was surely amassing in the actual scene of the party. In both the interests of his sanity and that of their building’s janitor, Daichi eased off of the wall and rapped his fist to the door with two harsh pounds he hoped could be heard above the trash rap wafting from the inside.

He knew the knock was loud enough—he had done it enough times on other residents’ doors, on this door too many times to count—and knew that the muscle behind his movement (what? He liked to work out!) was strong enough to make the metal door snap the party out of its intensity. Grunting, he pounded again, but the response was the same—the music steadily radiating from the room’s crevices, the lights changing color at a leisurely pace in comparison. He had given them a fair chance, he told himself, before he thrust his master key card against their lock. Daichi wasn’t sadistic; he cared about these guys, but he had to keep them at least a little bit in check so they didn’t tear the dormitory down. Or so they didn’t deprive him of more sleep, he resigned to admit, though his heart clenched as he turned their handle and entered the scene.

Daichi believed himself to be prepared for the mess, but he couldn’t control the way his eyes bulged as he took how much utter anarchy was ensuing in the fifteen-by-eleven space. He was nearly shoved out of the doorframe by a stumbling couple, making out so intensely and drunkenly the girl was simply licking his cheek. Already, a student was slumped over their trash can face-down, the friend attempting to help him lying facedown next to him, attempting to pat his back but hitting the leg of the bed. A couple was in Tanaka’s bunk, their figures too dark for Daichi to recognize, but the motions and noises were well understood. Three guys were rapping the current song in a circle around the one iPhone with Spotify Premium, being held up amongst their solo cups like a beacon. Finally, Daichi’s gaze fell on the hosts of the rager, as he took in Nishinoya Yuu dangling upside down off of his bed, chugging some bottle of alcohol as his roommate, Tanaka, held his legs while intensely kissing a girl on his left.

“Tanaka, Noya!” Daichi yelled, but he was drowned out by the cheers as Noya finished off the bottle. The freshman wiped his mouth with his arm before breaking into a ginormous smile, even more impish and wicked under the influence of alcohol. He sighed, letting his arms and body dangle wistfully, seemingly comfortable in his position upside down. His body was unresponsive as Tanaka started to shove him to the side, chanting, “My turn, my turn!” before trying to flip himself up on the bed to take his turn at chugging. 

“Alright, alright!” Daichi yelled, walking into the maylay. He shoved the dancing troupe of boys out of his way before yanking Noya upright, using his other hand to hold Tanaka back from chugging. “It’s eight P.M. at night! How are you already so drunk?”

“Daiiiiiiichi!!” Noya screamed, his grin seemingly getting wider, his fondness for the RA somehow obliterating any trace of fear he had for their impending party shutdown. Tanaka, on the other hand, responded in a much soberer manner, growling, “Bro, it’s the first Friday of the semester, we gotta go hard!!”

Daichi scowled in response, Noya wriggling in his grip. “You know the rules here, guys. I’ve had to write you up countless times for partying after eleven. What made you think I wouldn’t again?”

Noya lurched forward, drooping against Daichi’s shoulder, blinking up at him with a wistful smile. “Because you like us?” The RA scoffed in response, shaking his head to hold back his chuckles.   
“I like you guys, I really do,” Daichi conceded, “That’s why I’m giving you this advice! If you want to get trashed, please take it somewhere else! Somewhere where I won’t be able to write you up and shut your parties down!”

He was telling the truth, although his chest clenched with his condonment of their rowdiness. Alright, he admitted part of why he became a RA was to be the “buzzkill”—he spent enough sleepless nights freshman year thanks to the raging room next door to want to obliterate parties forever. Plus, he didn’t want to send his residents out for a wild night to far away from his protection, as cheesy as it sounded. Still, he did honestly care for them and want their happiness. It didn’t seem to Daichi like Tanaka or Noya was bound to get that anytime soon from somewhere besides the bottle, however, so he figured he should be a good RA, as much as it pained him. 

“We would, we would,” Tanaka slurred, diverting Daichi’s gaze back to him, as Tanaka’s shaved head lolled to face his RA, somehow making the most intense eye contact Daichi had, sober or not. “But we had to beat Mulligan. The guys in 105 said their party was gonna blow ours out of the water…s’ we had to compete, man, you know?”

Daichi’s brow furrowed. “Mulligan’s having this, too?” In the freshman quad, there were 2 infamous dorms—Langley, where Daichi lived, and Mulligan, situated directly across from it and perfectly mirroring its design. The first students living in the dorms began the bitter rivalry during one February afternoon when they commenced the first-annual snowball war between the dorms. Ever since, the residents have jokingly held grudges against the other, that sometimes turn too-real in snowball fights, prank wars, or even, evidently, challenges at who can out-party the other. Daichi shook his head at the information. He hadn’t heard of a room akin to 103 in the sister dorm, but he never really socialized with RA’s outside of his five-story building. Still, if there was a rager, and it was causing his residents to try to party harder, that made it his business, too, right? He took in 103’s chaos and decided what he had to do. Evidently, the documentary night would have to wait.

“Alright, everybody out!” he shouted in his best RA voice, even yanking the iPhone out of someone’s hand and pausing the trashy rap. The boys shuffled out obediently, grumbling under their breath, leaving the couple in the corner and the two residents of 103. Daichi narrowed his eyes at the pair, drunkenly bumping against each other, and shook his head. “Tonight is your only warning of the semester,” he said sternly, pointing at them. “Take your antics somewhere else next weekend.”

“Where you going, Dai?” Tanaka asked, falling forward slightly. Daichi mourned their wastebaskets that would be inevitably overflowing with their sickness tomorrow morning with how wasted they were already. “You getting wild, too?”

“Ay, Daichiii!” Noya called in approval, as Daichi winced, kneading his forehead with his fingers. “Actually, yes,” he conceded, which was answered by their chorus of cheers. “Not like that, don’t get excited,” he chided. Then, grudgingly, he added, “I’m going to Mulligan’s.”

“Mulligan’s!?” the boys both yelled, straightening enough where Daichi could be somewhat convinced of their sobriety. They chorused their disapproval, of how he was wasting his time in the dumpster dorm. 

“Relax,” Daichi said, striding over to the door, “I’m gonna keep them in check, just like you guys.”

He shouldered his way into the hallway, his residents’ cheers following down the corridor. Daichi straightened his shirt, then slid his hands into his pockets, comforted at the presence of his cell and his key card in their orderly place. He hissed as the winter chill hit his skin when he shouldered open the door, wincing further as he took in the towering brick building directly across from his own. 

He hadn’t even lived in Langley as a freshman himself, but being an RA there had him championing the famed rivalry more so than many of his residents. Daichi couldn’t help but feel anxious swiping into the building; even the lobby’s aroma smelled so decidingly wrong he was tempted to hightail out of there. Still, the cacophony of teenage screaming from the right side of the hall triggered his RA instincts enough to keep him on his mission. I’m just doing my job, Daichi told himself. It had nothing to do with proving that his dorm had the better party, or anything of the sort. He just wanted to help out the Mulligan staff, who were likely blissfully unaware of the rival parties that would quickly turn their friendly rivalry into a dangerous one, both for the residents’ sake and for Daichi’s sleep. 

Daichi pounded down the hallway, imagining his straight-backed posture could be intimidating despite his lack of massive height. Should he have rolled up his sleeves to flex for these guys? Don’t be ridiculous, he thought to himself, but at the same time, a nagging voice pleaded that he needed to in order to assert the dominance of Langley. Soon, he was at the doorframe of the rager, and with one look inside, all questions of what his purpose was immediately left his mind.

The party was nearly as wild as 103’s had been, with students already drunk out of their minds. However, these residents were concentrated in the center of the room, writhing against each other to the somehow trashier music blasting from a laptop in the corner. Some were shrieking and hollering along, while a few in the corner were shouting about the quality of the beer. Daichi took in several students jumping up and down on coolers to the bass, their movements rocking the plastic to the point where he could hear the glass inside clinking with crashing force. His gaze narrowed in on a lanky figure moving in front of them, his long arms outstretched as if to catch them. Daichi could tell from his movements that this man was completely sober; his frantic twitching was nothing like the drunkenness surrounding him, it was out of urgency, out of worry. His clothes were rumpled, but not scandalously so—it looked like he had rolled out of bed moments before, in black sweatpants, a wrinkled blue shirt, tousled hair, and only socks adorning his feet. Daichi scoffed—Christmas socks, at that. Momentarily forgetting the chaos, he stared at the tiny green wreaths on the man’s red socks as his feet bounced back and forth. The sight filled Daichi with such warmth he lost all perception of reality, until one of the boys toppled forward, moving out of the man’s reach.  
Instantly, Daichi ran towards him, but not fast enough to catch more than the arm of the resident, almost bringing him down with him. The kid groaned, face up on the floor, while Daichi knelt down next to him. “Are you ok?” He asked, but he only answered him in giggles. “More, more, more!” The kid screamed, and Daichi sighed, pulling himself off the floor and back to normal height.

He turned around, and was instantly met with big hazel eyes. They were twinkling in the reflection of the changing neon lights, Daichi thought involuntarily. He smiled at Daichi, his eyes crinkling in response. One of his hands was absent-mindedly raking through his messy silver-blonde hair, curling up around his ears. Daichi suddenly felt his heart pounding loudly in his ears, knowing full well that it had nothing to do with the loud music.

“Thanks for that,” the man said, his bright voice snapping Daichi out of his reverie. He nodded in response, awkwardly tucking his hands in his jean pockets and praying he hadn’t been obviously checking the guy out. He didn’t have a lot of time to contemplate it, however, because in the next instant, he heard a guttural moan, and felt the weight of the stranger’s body collapse into Daichi’s shoulders.

Involuntarily, Daichi reached his arms out to catch the guy, holding both of them upright in the middle of the room. He instantly went stiff at the contact, but the mystery man seemed to be making himself comfortable, now turning his cheek against Daichi’s shoulder and casually slinging his arms around Daichi’s waist. His heart nearly stopped as he caught a whiff of his hair nestled against his chest—coconut, really?—before panicking that he could feel the way his heart was pounding against him. He swallowed, trying not to stare at the man’s smooth porcelain neck inches from his face. Instead, he tried to casually pat his back, in practice more like awkwardly tapping his bony frame. From the noise he had made, it was clear that the guy was in some state of distress, so Daichi thought he should at least try to make him feel better, even though he didn’t know what had made him upset. Heck, he didn’t even know him, he reminded himself, but shut the thought down when the man made another muffled groan against Daichi’s shirt before abruptly pulling himself out of Daichi’s reach.

The man rubbed his face with his hand, wincing. “Sorry about that, I’m a hugger,” he said, as if that explained everything that had just unfolded. He looked at Daichi, and evidently noticing how tense he was, grimaced and hid his face further in his hand. “Oh my god, that was probably so awkward, right? I haven’t even met you and…” he coughed out a laugh, still looking in pain, and Daichi’s heart twisted. “It’s a fitting end to the night, I’m sorry…”

Daichi smiled warmly, both trying to calm the man down and because his embarrassment was a little adorable. “You’re totally good. I understand needing a hug every once in a while, especially at a party.” That earned a snort from the guy, and Daichi couldn’t help but be proud he had thought he was funny. Still… “Seriously, though, It’s ok. Is everything…are you alright?” He took in the guy’s sweatpants and Christmas socks again, his hands slightly shaking (from caffeine?), his face still partially hidden by his hand. He certainly looked a mess, even before his spontaneous hug. Daichi felt his RA Mode must be in overdrive as he surveyed his new companion with concern and anticipation at his response. 

The man sighed, flopping his arm away from his face lifelessly to his sides, his eyes going to the ceiling. “To be honest, not really.” He laughed at the tiles, then just as quickly snapping his head back down, meeting Daichi’s gaze again. The RA suddenly noticed the bags underneath them, clearly from a lack of sleep he understood all too well. His hands flailed as he talked, mirroring his frantic expression, as he rambled, “I have this ginormous exam coming up, and with all my other homework, I have to cram all of this week, and then my residents decide to throw this insane rager 72 hours before I have to take it and…I don’t know, with all the confrontation from the party and the students and the test, I wasn’t built to handle this much stress in my body—”

“Hey, it’s alright,” Daichi said, offering a calming smile. The other man froze at the interruption, his hands going rigid in the middle of one of his movements. His hazel eyes widened at Daichi, blinked, and then moved his face to what was supposed to be a smile, but to Daichi was a grimace. The RA chuckled, memories of his last exam week all to recent and painful. “I totally understand. I’m actually here to help with the party control, if you want someone to yell at them to cut this all out for you or with you, I’m down.”

His eyebrows skyrocketed. Daichi’s heart quickened—what had he said to make him upset?—when, “You’re from Pub Safe? Oh God, oh God, my residents will never forgive me…” His hands shot back into his hair as he tugged on it, his entire form shaking.

“No, no, no!” Daichi cried, his expression falling, too. He reached forward, tugging on the man’s wrists gently to ease them out of his hair. Reluctantly, he let Daichi help them out of the tangles, still regarding him with a wary expression, one of his perfect eyebrows raised. “I’m an RA, too, and heard from my residents about this party and thought I’d help get it under control. It’s kind of funny, actually,” he chuckled, briefly glancing at the RA’s expression that still reflected skepticism, and he coughed. “Um, I mean, it’s not super funny, because they’re our residents, but. There’s somehow a competition between dorms for the best party. Actually, I guess I came to warn you about it,” he concluded his rambling and looked up, to where the Mulligan RA was staring into his eyes with a more confused expression from before.

“You’re not a Mulligan RA though,” he muttered, tilting his head to the side as he surveyed Daichi. He watched hazel eyes flick up and down over his body. “I would’ve remembered you. Where do you live, then?” he said nonchalantly, as if his words didn’t cause Daichi’s breath to hitch.

“Langley,” Daichi grinned. He laughed when the RA’s eyes widened in shock. From where they were standing, Daichi could see into every fleck of color in the man’s hazel eyes, the light brown with darts of green and gold. He was suddenly painfully aware of the feel of his wrists underneath his grip, cool in contrast to the sweaty room. They both seemed to realize just how close they were, because in that instant, the Mulligan RA shook his head and took a step back from Daichi, their hands snapping away from each other. When Daichi met his eyes again, however, he was still regarding him with the same awestruck expression.

“I’ll be damned. Some parts of Langley can be redeemed,” he said with an easy smile. Daichi grinned, and the man stretched out his hand for him to shake. His large hands engulfed the Mulligan RA’s almost comically, but both squeezed with equal firmness. “It’s always nice to meet a fellow RA, even a traitorous one. I’m Sugawara Koushi,” the RA said.

“Sawamura Daichi,” he responded, “And who are calling a traitor? Surely not the guy braving ostracization across the quad just to help you bust a party.”

Sugawara laughed, the sound so melodious in comparison to the outdated rap Daichi thought it should’ve been a crime. “So, you want to help a man speaking to you on only three coffees in the past 24 hours stop a freshman party?” He asked, his hazel eyes alight with newfound mischief. Daichi didn’t have to think about it—after all, it was what brought him to his rival’s doorstep in the first place—so he nodded in response. Sugawara clapped his hands together at his answer. “Great! How loud are you?” 

“Loud?” Daichi stammered. Sugawara just nodded, explaining, “We’ve got to shout over the music, don’t we? You take that side of the room and I’ll take this one,” he gestured to the group with the laptop, and Daichi internally groaned, having already had the misfortune of being in such close vicinity of bad rap minutes ago. Still, he nodded at the silver-haired man, who subsequently offered him a high-five before they took off on their respective tasks.

He marched up the circle of students around the laptop, trying to square his shoulders to look as intimidating as possible (he didn’t have to work on his face; Nishinoya had told him on repeated occasions of its natural ability to inspire fear). The sight of the students wasn’t much changed from when he had first walked in—they were still drunkenly writhing, totally clueless to the dangers coming up behind them. “Hey!” Daichi boomed. The kids closest to him immediately flinched, eyes opening and looking up at him in confusion. The majority of them, however, were still dancing to the beat. Rolling his eyes, Daichi attempted to stride into the fray to reach the laptop. Slick bodies moved towards him, against him, and he cringed, trying to make his burlier frame pass through the mass of sweaty teenagers with as little contact as possible. After a torturous minute of moist flesh and writhing, he finally ducked under someone’s flinging arm to reach the exit, sighing with relief as the laptop came in his vision. Instantly, he lunged for it and hit the mute button. The student’s movements halted. Daichi nearly smiled with relief then—it had worked!—before they started jeering him. Their cries of outrage that followed even louder than the racket before, Daichi realized, groaning internally as he tried to calm the angry teens. “I’m sorry, it is way too early for this behavior, this party is being shut down, please leave unless you want a warning on your record…” but even with what he considered to be a very loud, strong RA voice, his commands fell on deaf ears, as the students kept riling up against him.

“Everybody, quiet!”

Daichi’s gaze snapped up to where Sugawara was standing, now perched on top of the drink coolers. Gone was his earlier nervousness; he looked totally in control, even in the Christmas socks, as he stood cupping his hands around his mouth to project his voice. “You know how much shit I put up with from you guys. Would it kill you to keep it down at 9 P.M. the first weekend of classes?”  
The room fell into silence. Then, shuffling. Some students began to file out, then more, as Sugawara smiled on at them. “Thank you guys,” he called. “I don’t mean to be a party-pooper, but we have exams, you know?” 

This even yielded some nods from the residents as they left the room. Daichi looked on in awe. Moments before, he had appeared a frazzled mess, but his projection of a benevolent, in-control RA had wooed the students. No one was in uproar that the party was over, but no one looked at the silver-haired man harshly. Daichi was impressed, and to be perfectly honest, a little jealous. Granted, he knew his residents loved him, but this kind of respect? Unfathomable. He couldn’t count how many times Tanaka had thrown his shoe alone at Daichi for busting one of their gatherings…and these residents simply left in resigned silence? Daichi felt like he should be asking Sugawara for help, not the other way around, he thought, as the last of the students left the room, save for the two who were hosting the shindig.

At this, Sugawara hopped off of the cooler and approached the boys. One was swaying side-to-side, his black hair matted to his forehead, the product of the gel sweating out. The other was leaning against his shoulder, rubbing his forehead, with silver and black hair still holding its gel-created shape. Sugawara narrowed his eyes slightly as he took them in, but didn’t look angry. More disappointed. Daichi understood the sentiment.

“Guys, I thought we talked about this last semester,” He chided, raking his hand through his silver hair. The gel-haired one shrugged. “I feel like I’ve been pretty lenient with you two. Especially with your antics before finals week,” Sugawara loosed a long breath that caused Daichi to wonder just how bad they had acted last semester. He took a step forward, now looking both of them in the eyes. “We agreed that you would be let off easier if you stopped partying, remember? What am I going to tell Campus Security now?”

They both winced at the mention. “Please don’t,” whispered the matted hair. “My parents…they can’t find out…”

“I know, Kuroo, I don’t want to do that to you,” Sugawara said, his eyes filling with sympathy. Daichi swallowed. He felt as if he was intruding, but didn’t want to leave—he wished his residents would be as open to him as these were to Sugawara. “But you guys can’t keep having parties without consequences. I’m sorry, it’s university policy.”

“We understand,” the gel-haired one responded. “We totally get it, Suga. Tonight’ll be the last one for sure. We only got so crazy because a dorm in Langley challenged us…”

“Yes, I heard about that,” said Sugawara, his eyes flicking to Daichi’s with a smirk. “Well…I guess if you promise it won’t be this disruptive next time…you can have another warning.”

“Alright, Suga!” gel-hair yelled, smacking the RA on the shoulder. He winced, his shoulders rising again, revealing the tension he had been hiding through the entire discourse. 

“Goodnight, you two. You know where to find me if you need anything,” Sugawara said briskly. Then his gaze darted to Daichi. “Daichi, would you mind talking to me for a minute?”

He nodded, following the Mulligan RA out of the room. They walked down the hall in silence, Daichi taking in the decorations Sugawara had placed on the walls. Advertisements for on-campus events, free yoga opportunities, and inspirational quotes were taped up by every two doors. Ahead of him, Sugawara entered a slightly-opened door, motioning for Daichi to follow. 

Inside, Daichi was met by the twinkle of fairy lights draped along the wall just under the ceiling. Some hung over a small grey futon couch, the twin of Daichi’s RA-issued furniture, but Suga’s was buried in a red and black plaid blanket, a half-closed Mac covered in stickers, and an open notebook. The coffee table in front of the couch couldn’t be seen under all the pages scattered across it, as well as the ginormous textbook opened to a diagram of leg muscles. Sugawara snorted, evidently following Daichi’s gaze, and lunged towards the book, closing it in a fluid motion. “Sorry,” he said, then laughed awkwardly. He rocked back on his heels. “It’s an anatomy exam, on the muscular system…the diagrams can look a little strange to people who don’t know.”

Daichi grinned. “I know that, actually. I’m a physical therapy major, my anatomy professor taught that unit last week.”

Sugawara’s face lit up. “Really?” 

“Yeah,” Daichi said, tucking his hands in his pockets. “I’ve always wanted to do something with sports or medicine, and when I was injured in high school, I knew that I wanted to make people heal, too. I know it sounds kind of cheesy…” 

“No, Daichi,” Sugawara said. Daichi met his gaze and was flustered to notice how wide the silver-haired man was grinning up at him, like his dorky, idealistic reasoning was the most precious thing in the world. He felt his cheeks reddening despite his best efforts to stop. God, he was getting more flustered because of subtle things Sugawara did than he did in actual awkward situations. “Don’t apologize. That’s seriously adorable. Plus, I think it’s awesome that you found something you care about so much.”

Feeling another flush coming on, Daichi jerked his head to intricately study his shoes. Then, realizing how much more awkward that looked, he decided to pace around. Daring the briefest glance up at Sugawara, he asked, “What made you want to study nursing?” he asked, before immediately dropping his eyes to the very interesting floor again. 

Sugawara coughed, forcing Daichi’s gaze to dart to the slim man. He was quirking his lips in an odd expression, and Daichi immediately tensed, hoping he hadn’t accidentally brought up something too serious. His face must have read as much, because Sugawara held up a hand to him, saying offhandedly, “It’s fine, I don’t mind. I…spent a lot of time in the hospital growing up, and I kind of wanted to be that supportive and helpful person that nurses always were to me. You know, to make the kids feel better.” He shrugged, then moving to put his hands in his pockets, but ended up smoothing the sides of his sweatpants as they didn’t have any stitched in. Daichi caught his expression as he briefly winced, and held in a smile as best he could. After all, he’d clearly have done the exact same thing.

“That’s awesome, too, Sugawara,” He said. “I mean—clearly not the hospital situation, which must’ve been awful, but, I mean, you know what I mean, about the…wanting to help people.” He could barely manage a pathetic smile at the end of his ramble. Still, he looked up and saw Sugawara smiling at him amusedly.

“Is it bad that I’m enjoying how flustered you’re getting?” he asked, earning a ragged huff from Daichi. Sugawara was covering his face with his hand, but Daichi could see his abdomen shaking from silent giggles. “I feel so mean! But it’s making me feel like my life’s a little more together that I’m not the only insanely awkward one in the world,” he finished, laughing outright at the end and meeting Daichi’s eyes.

“Still cruel,” Daichi pointed out. But he laughed, too. As the tone faded into silence, he remained frozen in the center of Sugawara’s room, boring holes into the shitty carpeting, realizing that he didn’t really want to leave. He should, though, right? Technically, he was still supposed to be on duty in Langley, and Sugawara clearly had to study, or sleep, as soon as possible. Yet, talking to Sugawara, though a little jittery, was so transfixing he found himself unexplainably wanting to stay. 

But Sugawara was stressed out of his mind for the anatomy exam, he reminded himself. Plus, he was still on duty, too. Though the question of why Sugawara had even asked him to come to his room still pounded in the back of his head, Daichi forced the anticipation down and resolved himself to leave. He was just about to awkwardly excuse himself when Sugawara piped up, “Hey, I don’t know if this is weird for you, but…would you want to stay here? Like, study together?”

Daichi looked up at him, his hazely eyes and shy expression. The silver-haired man continued, “I mean, if you don’t have anything to do, I wouldn’t want to keep you, but as I said, I’m running on just coffee and I feel like I need the company or else I will actually lose my mind.”

His thoughts were a jumble—he was on duty back at Langley (he could get someone to cover for him? But Noya and Tanaka?), he wanted to stay (but he only met him a few minutes ago? It could be hours of awkward silence instead of documentary night…)—but another look into Sugawara’s kind eyes had him nodding in an instant. 

“Let me go get my stuff,” he barely registered that he said the words before he was flying out of the room, pausing briefly to make sure he remembered which one was Sugawara’s, before he barreled out of Mulligan across to Langley. Busting his door open, he threw his laptop and a sweatshirt into his backpack before slinging it across his shoulders and shutting the door behind him. He could watch the documentary on his laptop, he thought, as he pulled out his phone to beg someone in Langley to cover for him. A few minutes later, he was nudging the half-opened door to Sugawara’s room open enough for him to poke his head in.

Sugawara looked up at him from where he was now sitting on the couch, already furiously scribbling something in his notebook. His lips quirked up in the barest hint of a smile when Daichi stepped into the room again, nodding to his desk across the room, “You can pull up that chair if you’d like, sorry it’s not the most comfortable.” Daichi shook his head in understanding and walked to grab the wooden chair that came with every university desk. 

The opposite side of Sugawara’s room seemed to be even more overflowing with Sugawara’s personality than before, which made Daichi internally rack his brain at what his room’s strewn, deodorant-smelling room said about him exactly. Smiling, he took in the polaroids of Sugawara and some friends framing the school-issued desk, which Daichi was shocked to notice was organized impeccably, in sharp contrast with the mangled state of the coffee table. He smirked at different colored post-it notes with scribbled schedules placed in a perfect line. The sharpie lines against the fluorescent paper were sharp and hurried, much like the writer himself, Daichi thought, envisioning a frazzled Sugawara scribbling down when his meetings were whilst doing a million other things. 

Despite his best efforts, Daichi’s eyes flickered to the left alcove of the room, where Sugawara’s bed was lofted. The mattress was buried in purple pillows and a stuffed penguin, but underneath, he noticed the plain grey mattress and a blue-and-white quilt folded at the foot of the bed. More fairy lights twinkled around the bed like a canopy, outlining Sugawara’s decorations on the wall behind it. There was a smaller poster of a band Daichi didn’t recognize hanging beneath the lights, as well as several more polaroids, and a map of the world as well as a few political stickers, from what Daichi could tell at that distance. A gay pride flag dangled proudly and boldly, its rainbow coloration somehow brought the otherwise bland space to life and made it a whole new, vibrant entity. 

Right, the chair, Daichi reminded himself, pushing it over to the coffee table to sit across from Sugawara, hoping his delay wasn’t that noticed. When he looked back up at Sugawara, he seemed to be burrowed in his studying too much to notice, with one arm slung around his leg, bringing it to his chest, and absent-mindedly tapping his pen on the leg as he read from the textbook. Daichi smiled, reaching into his backpack to pull out his laptop and headphones to settle in for the documentary.

Still…he looked back up at Sugawara, still enthralled in his work. He didn’t really want to sit in total silence with the RA the entire night. Though Daichi was a little awkward in social interactions, he thought that he and Sugawara had been getting along well, and wanted to get to know him more. He didn’t want to interrupt the silver-haired man’s studying, though. So Daichi asked, “So, how do you want this to go? Do you want to take breaks and chat, or just…like…I don’t know, have me here to make sure you don’t die?”

Sugawara laughed, his eyes crinkling, but never leaving the pages of the anatomy textbook. Daichi watched them as they continued to scan the pages as he spoke. Man, this guy really does need to cram. “Both, maybe? No, we can take breaks…how about, every hour?”

Every hour? Daichi wanted to know Sugawara better, but he did not expect to be staying here for a super extended period of time. (he was an old man at heart, okay? College life be damned, he wanted those 8 hours of sleep!) But then again, he should have expected Sugawara to want to study for a long period of time. And really, what else was he going to be doing tonight? Watching a documentary alone? “Okay,” he obliged, nodding at the RA again, who was now diving through the piles of paper on the desk, evidently in search of something. 

Clicking play on his Netflix, Daichi soon fell into the comfortable relaxation that came with the nature documentary. About twenty minutes of cute polar bears and breathtaking views later, he found his gaze drifting across the room. Suddenly, his head whipped back to take a closer look at a bowl he had spied on the end table of Sugawara’s couch table, filled to the brim with multicolored things. His eyes narrowed, taking in their shape, the size, and his stomach dropped. Condoms. 

“Do you want one?”

Daichi all-out jumped at Sugawara’s intrusion, his gaze snapping to the RA, who, evidently catching him in his stare, was looking at him expectantly. He could feel his cheeks on absolute fire as he tried to stammer a coherent response. However, things got worse—as Sugawara took in Daichi’s inability to speak, his own face fell into one of horror, his ears turning pink. “Oh my God, they aren’t all for me, if that’s what you’re…oh my God, no wonder you looked so horrified! I keep those there for my residents.”

Sugawara brought his hand up to cover his face, smiling sheepishly into his palm. “Yikes, I guess that looks kind of bad.”

Daichi laughed. “I mean…no? It makes sense. And it’s like, in a convenient spot.” The beat of silence that followed nearly killed Daichi as he made a horrific realization. “For the residents! To grab! Oh my—”

Sugawara was laughing at his accidental blunder, and Daichi found himself unable to stop from joining in. They laughed until it was painful for them both to breathe, Daichi heaving over and clutching his stomach and Sugawara trying and failing to keep his cackles from disturbing the mountain of papers before him. Finally, their laughter came to a halt, both of them breathing out a sigh. “Like you said, you’re not the most awkward person,” Daichi said, and Sugawara chuckled a bit under his breath.

“I’m serious, though, you can take some,” Sugawara said, nonchalantly moving more pages of notes onto his lap and reading them over very intensely. 

Daichi still choked at the comment. “Thanks, but it’s not—they wouldn’t be necessary for me,” he eventually mumbled, suddenly very interested in the paused screen of his laptop and not looking anywhere that wasn’t Sugawara. “Do your residents…?”

He risked a glance up at Sugawara to see his eyes crinkling in delight, even as he scanned the paper. “Yeah, it is kind of cringy for me when I catch them taking some. Like, I could have lived my entire life without knowing the details of their sex lives, but…I’m glad I know they’re being safe, you know?”

Daichi nodded. Memories of the girl Tanaka had been with earlier that night flashed in his mind, concerns about their safety, that he couldn’t seem to shake. “I wish my residents were more open with me about things like that,” he mused. “Mine just ask me for help with Calc 1.”

Sugawara laughed. “Hey, at least they know you’re reliable. Smart, factual, dedicated…”

“Boring,” Daichi mumbled. (To them, at least. Daichi was content with his old-man status). Sugawara fake-gasped, letting the papers he was clutching smack his face gently. “I don’t believe that,” he smiled, turning back to his readings. “You’re very interesting to me.”

Despite how Daichi was warmed at the statement, he had to remind him, “I’m watching a nature documentary on a Friday night.”

“Interesting!” Sugawara smirked, pointing at him without breaking concentration from his notes. Daichi huffed, but a smile was growing on his face.

“Just because anything is more interesting compared to analyzing leg muscles,” he nodded to the diagram in front of him. But then Sugawara said, “No, I actually really enjoy analyzing leg muscles,” and everything in Daichi’s body short-circuited.

They sat in silence for a few minutes after that, Sugawara going back to studying and Daichi watching more of the movie. Still, he kept getting distracted by things he wanted to ask the RA. Like, what made you want to become an RA? Are you seriously interested in my documentary? Do you watch sports? Would you like my leg muscles? (Ok, maybe not that one, although Daichi was lowkey wondering). 

His thoughts were interrupted by a deep sigh from Sugawara. Then, in the next moment, he threw the papers he was clutching down on his lap with a defining smack. “Screw it, I need a break,” he wailed, bringing his elbows to rest on his knees so he could bury his face in his hands. He clicked to pause the documentary when Sugawara said, “what is that about again, Daichi?”

He was about to play it off, knowing well that most of his friends found it unbearably boring, but when he glanced up at Sugawara, his hazel eyes were so earnest to Daichi he felt the dam he built up give way, and suddenly, he was spewing facts about cute penguins and his concern about global warming and then they were talking about politics and they were agreeing about everything. Daichi got his answer about Sugawara becoming an RA (for the lower cost of living, but also so he could be a mentor to LGBTQ freshman who were discovering their identities for the first time or just wanted more support on campus—which, seriously, was amazing, Daichi thought). His laugh at Daichi’s stories of his freshman hallmates was sweeter and more addictive than his Ben & Jerrys, Daichi thought, blushing as Sugawara teased him for being such a stick in the mud. He learned that while Sugawara was interested in documentaries, he usually watched Grey’s Anatomy, being a sucker for over-the-top dramatic shows. “Riverdale is dying, though,” he warned Daichi sternly. “That’s one travesty you shouldn’t have to suffer through! Scandal, on the other hand…” While their show preferences were all over the place, as well as how they watched them (Suga watched live as much as possible, but binged Grey’s on loop to pass time, when Daichi barely watched 2 episodes of anything a week), they were shocked to discover they had played the same sport in high school. “Volleyball is the best sport to ever exist,” Daichi stated, because it was a true statement. “Ever!” Suga had yelled in agreement, his grin widening. He was now splayed on the couch, his arms dangling above his head and his sweatpants hiked enough to show his ankles. “We should play together sometime,” he smiled, moving his arm so one of his hands rested on his forehead, eyes closed.

Daichi smiled, leaning his chin against the side of his knee, his arms slung around the fronts of his calves. “Yeah, definitely.” He hesitated before continuing. “I’m actually on the club team for the university.”

“Oh my god, Daichi, I can’t,” Suga said, but Daichi could see he was smiling under his arm. “Would it kill you to not be good at like, one thing?”

Daichi could list a few things he wasn’t good at—relating to his residents like Sugawara or talking to potential romantic partners. Specifically the latter, considering Daichi had never been in a relationship, or even been comfortable enough to talk about his sexuality to anyone besides his closest friends. He didn’t mention this to Sugawara, though, and just asked, “What position did you play?”

“Setter,” he said, and Daichi could hear the smile in his tone. “It was stressful, but so fun. Our Ace and I, when we got a spike through…that was the most rewarding feeling.”

Daichi nodded, totally understanding. “I’m a wing spiker,” he explained, “So playing together would actually work really well. You set, I spike?”

“Oh, for sure we’re doing this,” he said, but shifted his arms. Sugawara kneaded his forehead with his fingertips, undoubtedly trying to stop a study-headache that was far too along already to be completely stopped. “Hey, how much water have you drank?” Daichi piped up. 

When Sugawara’s eyes fell on him in confusion, he elaborated, “I always get headaches studying if I’m dehydrated, so I have to drink like a half a bottle an hour. You…are getting a headache, right?”  
Suga’s lips quirked to the side, mumbling something Daichi couldn’t hear. “What?” he asked. Sighing, Sugawara repeated sarcastically, “Maybe you should be the nurse, Daichi,” huffing as he leaned towards his backpack, withdrawing a blue Nalgene completely covered in stickers. He drank what was left in the bottle before unceremoniously placing it on the coffee table and slumping back down into the sofa. “Yeah, you’re right, I probably am dehydrated, both from just lack of water and the Jerry.”

“Jerry?” Daichi asked, his eyebrow quirking, to which Suga only responded by nodding behind him. Following the motion, Daichi eventually laid eyes on an empty pint of Half Baked on the floor next to the couch. “But Half Baked is a gift from the gods,” he admitted, “I don’t think it could betray you if it wanted to it’s so holy.”

Sugawara laughed, going back to kneading his forehead. “It can in my circumstances.” Daichi waited for him to elaborate, and a few beats of silence passed before he continued. “All I had besides was a parfait for brunch and all the coffee, so the energy crash is being pretty brutal. Plus, I ate it all out of wallowing, so it wasn’t even enjoyable.”

“Wallowing?” Daichi asked, sitting up straighter from where he was slouching in Sugawara’s dorm-issued chair. The silver-haired RA’s eyes were closed, but he knew he had heard his question. His heart twisted at the thought of Suga having more on his plate than the stresses he had already outlined. He almost didn’t want to know, but was also painfully anticipating what he would say.  
“Yeah…” Suga drawled out, not looking up from under his hands. “My boyfriend dumped me two weeks ago, and, I don’t know, I guess I’m not completely over it yet.”

“Oh,” Daichi said. (Then, internally: Oh? What the hell, man? That’s the shittiest response I’ve ever--) “I’m sorry.” He cringed at his own incompetence. 

Suga nodded, eyes still peacefully shut. A beat of silence passed. “…Do you want to talk about it?” Daichi’s voice was barely audible, he thought, but Suga seemed to register it. 

“We were only dating for like, four months, so I shouldn’t be so worked up over it,” he breathed, “But I guess it just hurt because of why.”

Why? Daichi wanted to ask. It broke his heart to think of someone hurting Sugawara, leaving him for god knows why. Whoever the guy had been, he should have been so lucky to be dating someone so kind, good-hearted, and funny…

Daichi’s heart skipped a beat. He should be listening to Suga, not thinking…whatever he was. So as usual, he shoved his feelings down and leaned forward, wanting more than anything to be a supportive friend to his new acquaintance.

Suga blinked up at Daichi with one eye, the other still hidden by his hand, as if to ensure he was still wanting to hear the story. He sighed, then said, “He visited me over break, and like, I knew he was going to stay with me, but…I don’t know, I didn’t think that implied that…things would automatically happen.”

“Right, it shouldn’t,” Daichi said quietly, his jaw clenching. His stomach sank as he started to formulate the rest of what had happened to lead to Suga’s breakup, and he wanted to throttle the guy.

“Well, not to him, apparently,” he snorted, but Daichi knew there was no humor behind it. “We had talked about it before, and I had said I needed more time, but when he came over and I told him I still wasn’t ready…” Suga trailed off, “He said he wanted to end it.”

“I’m so sorry,” he said after a few seconds. “Seriously, Suga, that’s such an asshole move. If he really cared, he would be respectful of you wanting to wait.”

“I know,” he heard Suga breathe. “It just sucks to know he didn’t care that much, you know?”

Daichi sighed in agreement. He had never been in a relationship before, but he couldn’t even imagine how horrible it must be to have your partner disregard everything they had together simply because they wanted sex. He looked up when he heard Suga sigh, too. “Sorry to lay that all on you, Daichi. I mean, I only just met you and I’m telling you about getting dumped for not having sex,” he laughed, propping himself up on the couch. 

“No, you’re good,” he said, “I’ll always listen. If I had any traumatic relationship stories, I would tell them to you, too, don’t worry.”

Suga smiled then, and Daichi couldn’t help but feel a little bit victorious. “Thanks again for staying with me. It’s getting late, though, you should probably head back before the bats come out of the Langley vents.”

He laughed, shaking his head. “If I can get past the rats in the Mulligan hallways,” he said under his breath, and Sugawara rolled his eyes. 

As Daichi stood up, putting his laptop in his computer, he felt his movements becoming more and more lethargic. He liked the peaceful glow of the fairy lights, the bright disorder. More than anything, he liked the comfort of the person sitting in front of him, casually sifting through loose papers to organize them before hopefully putting them away for the night. He didn’t want to leave, he realized. He didn’t want this to be the last time he was in this room, happy to be distracted by hazel eyes instead of a lonely laptop screen.

“Suga,” he began, the silver-haired male’s hazel eyes snapping up to his in an instant. “Thank you for inviting me. This is been…really fun,” he said evenly, hoping to God he wasn’t blushing in the dimly lit room.

He just got a grin back. “You too, Daichi. I’m glad I got to meet you.”

“Me too,” he said. Then, ignoring his awkward hand going behind his head, seemingly with a mind of its own to make him look as non-suave as possible, he blurted out, “Hey, could I have your number? If I have to pull a late night on duty, we could do this again?”

Crap, his voice went up way too high at the end of that. Still, Suga’s eyes crinkled. “Yeah, that would be fun. Here you go,” he said, fishing about for his phone and unlocking it before exchanging it with Daichi’s. He smiled briefly at the background—Suga and a few of his friends from the polaroids at a concert—before quickly entering his contact and thankfully not misspelling anything. He went to hand it back to Suga when he caught him smiling dopily at Daichi’s phone. “What?” he laughed, but internally tried to think back to anything embarrassing that might be on his phone.

“I just…I really like this background,” Suga grinned, flipping the phone back to Daichi for him to see. He looked at it every day, but within the context of someone seeing it for the first time…Daichi blushed, just imagining Suga’s first thought at the image of him and his two closest friends posing to look like badasses (and failing?) in their college uniforms. He yanked the phone out of Suga’s grasp, prompting the other to start cackling. “We thought we looked great,” he bit out, although the point seemed kind of moot as he looked it over again. Yeah, he definitely looked constipated. 

Sugawara laughed. “It’s not bad, per say,” he looked like he was stifling more laughter to Daichi, but the brunette didn’t comment further, “You just look more tense when you’re serious. I like you smiling better.” Daichi felt his heart flutter for a moment at Suga’s words, wanting to look at Suga but desperately avoiding his gaze. But eventually, his heart gave in, and he was looking down into Suga’s peaceful hazel eyes, equally calming and igniting something inside Daichi’s chest he didn’t know if he could handle. Suga held his gaze for another moment before saying, “Goodnight, Daichi.”  
Daichi echoed him and moved to leave, waving at the RA one more time before making his way out of Mulligan.

He checked his clock for the first time since going to Suga’s room when he sank against his own mattress. It was one thirty in the morning. Daichi groaned, knowing waking up to start his homework was going to be hell tomorrow, but as he sank further into the sheets, thoughts of Suga’s smiling face and warm words lulled him to sleep feeling happier than he had in a long time.


End file.
